Visiting Hours
by Hieiko
Summary: Nathan ends up in the hospital, and he's got visitors. Spoilers for 1x23, How to Stop an Exploding Man.


Title: **Visiting Hours**  
Author: Hieiko  
Fandom: Heroes  
Characters: Nathan, Peter, Claire, rest of Petrellis, Hiro, etc.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes, or any of the characters.  
Warnings: Spoilers for 1x23, "How to Stop an Exploding Man".  
Summary: Nathan ends up in the hospital, and he's got visitors.

"I wish you'd wake up now, Nathan."

_Go away, Peter. It's too early in the morning for your world-saving schemes._

"Please don't make us wait anymore, honey."

_Heidi? What, has my brother convinced you to join him?_

"He's waking up! I can hear his thoughts, Heidi. And he can hear us. Right, Nate?"

"Are you sure, Peter?" Heidi's voice held a mix of hope and doubt. "Nathan? Can you hear me? It's been three weeks..."

_What?_

"What?" Nathan repeated, aloud this time, and slowly opened his eyes.

xxx

Hospital beds weren't meant for two people. But Nathan and Heidi were pressed so close together that lack of space was hardly an issue.

"Do you still love me, Nathan?" she asked, pulling away just enough to look at his face.

His answer was immediate. "Yes, I still love you."

"Good. Because I still love you, too."

xxx

When Nathan woke up sometime before noon the next day, his brother was standing at the foot of the bed and staring at him with a blank expression.

"Hey, Pete," he said. "You okay?"

Peter blinked. "Yeah. I'm fine," he answered, suddenly grinning. "Looks like someone's _not_ grouchy this morning..."

Nathan rolled his eyes.

But Peter continued, "You do know, Nate, that this is a hospital, and not a hotel."

"Thanks for the information," Nathan said dryly. "Stop trying to change the subject."

He moved over to give Peter space to sit beside him. Draping an arm around his little brother's shoulders, Nathan asked, "Now, what's the problem?"

"Nothing, really," Peter said, leaning against him. "It's just that, for a second, I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up. Yesterday could have been a dream, for all I know."

Nathan remained silent, though he pulled his brother a little closer.

"You could have died, Nathan. Don't _ever_ do that again," Peter mumbled.

"Do what? You told me I'd been lying comatose here for weeks."

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

"Right."

"Swear you won't do it again," Peter demanded.

"I swear," Nathan said.

"Liar."

xxx

"That was a very stupid thing you did, Nathan," Angela Petrelli told her firstborn son as soon as she came in.

"Sorry, Ma," Nathan replied wryly, giving up on the pretense of sleep. He looked at his mother, and saw beneath the disapproving gaze that she had been worried about him. "But you know I had to do it."

She pursed her lips for a moment, before saying, "You're lucky to be alive."

"So the doctors keep telling me," he said.

Angela sighed. "Do try to be less suicidal the next time you and your brother decide to save the world."

xxx

"Saving all those people is a pretty big deal," Claire said quietly, staring down at her hands. "I don't think even a thousand thank-yous would be enough."

"It wouldn't?" Nathan asked, pretending to ponder the idea. "Well, why don't you tell me what you want, and maybe I could do something about it."

That made her look up. "What are you talking about?"

"You're the one who saved them," he said, smiling a little.

Her eyes widened. "I didn't do anything."

"Yes, you did, Claire," Nathan said. "You made me see the truth."

She stared at him. And when she failed to say anything in the next several seconds, it started to make him uncomfortable.

"Claire?"

She didn't answer. Instead, Claire stood and hugged him tightly. "I'm glad you aren't dead," she whispered.

xxx

"You saved someone from a fire?" Peter asked from the doorway.

His brother and his niece turned to look at him. "Um, yeah," Claire replied, "I told you about it, remember? It happened before we first met."

"I remember," Peter said, settling on the chair beside her. "But I was asking Nathan."

Claire turned to her father in surprise. "You never said..."

"I didn't think of it until you mentioned rescuing that man from a fire," Nathan said. He narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Stay out of my head, Pete."

"Yeah, okay." Peter grinned, ignoring his brother's irritation. "So much for not wanting anything to do with the superhero stuff, huh?"

xxx

"Dad, you're not sick anymore, are you?" Monty asked.

Nathan smiled at his youngest child. Before he could get a word out, however, his older son Simon spoke up. "Dad was never sick, Monty. He got hurt in an explosion."

Monty frowned. "Is that true, Dad?"

But again, it was Simon who answered, "It's true! Uncle Peter said so."

"Your uncle told you this?" Nathan asked.

"No," Simon admitted. "I heard him talking to Mom."

"Is that why you wouldn't wake up for so long? Does it still hurt?" Monty looked worried.

"I'm fine," Nathan reassured him. "The doctors say I can go home in a few days."

"You have to be home in time for Monty's birthday," Simon reminded their father.

Monty grinned at his brother. "You remembered! Did you get me a present?"

"Nooo," Simon replied, sticking out his tongue. Monty's face fell.

Taking pity on his youngest, Nathan said, "He's already got it wrapped."

Monty perked up instantly. "Wow, thanks, Simon!" he said happily, while Simon glared at their dad. "How did you know that?!"

xxx

A solemn Hiro Nakamura entered the room. Or to be more precise, he materialized out of thin air. Nathan blinked to make sure the Japanese man wasn't a figment of his imagination.

Hiro bowed deeply. "I'm glad to see you are well, Flying Man," he said, smiling as the familiar nickname passed his lips.

"Same here." Nathan couldn't help but grin in return. "Have a seat. What have you been up to these days?"

"I have been training to use my power," Hiro replied. "It is not easy."

"No, I imagine it's not," Nathan said, for once feeling grateful that his ability was flight instead of time travel. There were a million things he could do if he had Hiro's power, but he was also well aware of the damage he could cause. No, it wasn't an ability meant for someone like him.

"I'm sorry for calling you a villain," Hiro suddenly blurted out.

Nathan waved away the apology. "Forget it. It doesn't matter."

"No, I was wrong," Hiro insisted. "You are a hero."

"I'm not a hero," Nathan muttered. Louder, he said, "Alright, apology accepted. Can we leave it at that?"

Hiro nodded, smiling again. "You have been here in hospital for many weeks. Will you be allowed to leave soon?"

"They haven't told me. But I'd love to get out of here right now. Hospital food leaves much to be desired." Nathan eyed the window, and wondered if it was warm enough outside for flying.

"No one likes hospital food," Hiro stated. He adjusted his glasses. "Do you like waffles, Flying Man?"

xxx

Peter was nearly bowled over by his niece on the way back to his brother's room.

"He's gone!" Claire cried, gripping Peter's arm hard enough to hurt.

"Claire, what...?" he started to ask. Then, "Nathan?"

She nodded.

Peter sprinted down the hall to Nathan's room, and flung the door open. There was no one there, but everything seemed to be in its proper place.

"No sign of a struggle," he told Claire when she appeared in the doorway. He lowered his voice and gestured to the open window. "He might have, you know, gone flying."

She looked skeptical. "Is it safe for him to do that now?"

"I don't know," he said, trying not to sound worried.

xxx

Claire leaned against the wall and watched as her uncle paced back and forth in the hallway outside Nathan's room.

"He hasn't gone home. He's not on the roof. He's not anywhere in the sky within a five mile radius of this place," Peter said, ticking off a mental list. "He hasn't left a note or anything. Nobody has seen him." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Where the hell is he?"

The answer was a sudden bark of laughter from inside Nathan's room.

xxx

"Let me get this straight. You wanted to go out for breakfast," Peter said. "So Hiro teleported the both of you to a cafe in Texas?!"

Nathan tried not to smirk. "Yeah, that's right."

"You should have left a note." Claire was frowning. "We thought you'd been kidnapped, or something."

"Aren't I supposed to be the crazy brother, Nate?" Peter flopped down on the bed. "You're not allowed to pull stunts like this." In a flash, he grabbed a pillow and smacked his older brother in the face.

Nathan froze for only a second before he reached out and caught Peter in a headlock. "You should know better than to mess with me, little brother."

Peter elbowed him in the stomach, but Nathan didn't let go. They rolled off the bed and landed on the floor with a loud thump.

Giggling, Claire retreated to a chair in the corner of the room.

The brothers wrestled for several more seconds, until the door opened and they heard their mother's distinctly annoyed voice. "Are you quite done acting like children?"

They looked up at the same time. Nathan stood and smoothed down his clothes, while Peter said cheerfully, "Yes, Mom, we're done now."

Angela rolled her eyes. "Everything's been arranged. Let's go home."

Her statement was met with smiles.


End file.
